


The Dragon and the Warrior

by The_Wicked_Diamond



Series: Zukka Week 2021 [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Sokka is a tea drinker, Tea shop AU, Zuko is a coffee drinker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 05:02:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30083886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Wicked_Diamond/pseuds/The_Wicked_Diamond
Summary: Sokka loves tea but he works at a coffee shop. The Dragon, he learns, loves coffee but works at a tea shop.Zukka Week Day 3: Tea/Coffee shop AU and friends to lovers
Relationships: Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Zukka Week 2021 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2209716
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	The Dragon and the Warrior

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy. This was a doozy. Technically, the trope is friends to loves, but the boys go from drink acquaintances straight to boyfriends. I don’t make the rules. I hope you guys enjoy it.
> 
> Sorry if you spot any mistakes. Point them out in the comments if you want to.

Sokka works at the  _ Ahkult _ , the coffee shop at the corner of Caldera and Omashu. At the corner on the opposite end of the block, there’s a tea shop called the  _ Jasmine Dragon.  _ Hakoda hates the  _ Jasmine Dragon _ and the guy who owns it; says he’s an affront to coffee drinkers everywhere (he doesn’t even drink coffee, the guy runs a tea shop, for Tui’s sake). Sokka doesn’t fully understand the rivalry, but he doesn’t really care, either.

Everyone in his family is a coffee drinker, except for him. Katara likes the frilly drinks that are more cream and sugar than coffee, Hakoda likes a simple black coffee, and Bato likes lattes (definitely not what Sokka expected, if he was being honest). Aang, Katara’s husband, doesn’t drink coffee, but his family accepts him anyway, because they know that a caffeinated Aang would only spell trouble. He’s a hot cocoa drinker (not tea) so he’s allowed to stay. 

Sokka remembers their wedding vividly. They were both fresh out of college and had been engaged for a year. The ceremony wasn’t too big, just himself, Hakoda, Bato, Gran Gran, and Yugoda on Katara’s side, and the monk that raised Aang, Gyatso, and Suki, Aang’s adopted sister. 

Suki and Sokka were once a thing, back when they were both straight. But Sokka came out as bi and Suki as a lesbian, and they decided they were stronger as friends. Now they are each other’s ultimate wing person, although Sokka’s pretty sure Suki is dating Ty Lee from the toy shop down the street. They met when Ty Lee came to Suki’s dojo looking for a sparring partner, and the rest was not quite history because Sokka’s only pretty sure but he hasn’t been able to have a Hot Goss Sesh with Suki in a while.

The wedding after party had coffee cake and hot cocoa served as a symbol of Katara and Aang’s bond. Sokka just thought it was oogie.

Katara and Aang are now both teachers at the local schools, Aang in first grade and Katara the high school swim coach and world history teacher.

Toph, Sokka’s salt mate and best friend since college, teaches courses for the blind and visually impaired at the community center. He met Toph at a party his first year in college. She was short, loud, drunk, and, most obviously, blind. But that didn’t stop her. She was helped down from the table and given a white stick (Sokka assumed it was to help her get around) and started whacking people with it. Sokka figured this was a regular occurrence because everyone moved out of her way pretty quickly. Or they were just fast learners. Unfazed by the sudden emptiness of her path, Toph made her way over to Sokka. Even though she couldn’t see him, somehow he felt like she was looking into his soul. It was unnerving. Especially when she grinned at him and loudly asked, “Who let the virgin into the party?” Sokka was offended on his own behalf, because A, he wasn’t invited to the party, he came here on his own, and B, he definitely wasn’t a virgin. Those few fumbling months with Suki said otherwise, but that was neither here nor now. Besides, he now had to retaliate or he could kiss goodbye to a good reputation.

“Who let the toddler in the party? What, did your babysitter get bored?” Toph, for her part, cackled loudly and hit him with her cane (how did she hit his knee so accurately?). Sokka could tell Toph ran the party, even though she was clearly underage, same as him. From that moment on, they were the best of friends, the kind who bitched to each other and about each other, but would rip out throats if anyone else did something to the other.

Toph was living off of her parents money and decided she might as well get the college experience, even if she wasn’t going to use it. She chose to go for an art degree, because “no one could tell me it looks bad because I can’t see it”. Toph thought she was hilarious, and Sokka had to agree. After she graduated, she went and volunteered at the local community center and started teaching classes. That’s what she does during the day. At night, she works with Suki at  _ Kyoshi _ , her dojo. Toph is a surprisingly good fighter, in spite of her lack of vision. Sokka still doesn’t know how she does it.

All of his friends had steady jobs and were decently successful. They enjoyed what they were doing with their lives. Not that Sokka doesn’t, but in comparison to them, he’s lacking badly. They knew what they’d wanted to do, and they made it happen.

Sokka, on the other hand, still works in the coffee shop, even though he hates coffee, is 26, and really needs a life outside of work, because when he’s not in the coffee shop, he’s working on his inventions, putting that costly engineering degree to work. He lives in the apartment above the shop (thankfully Hakoda and Bato decided they wanted their own place away from the shop so Sokka doesn’t have to deal with sharing) and most of it has been converted into a mechanical workshop. His walls are covered in grease and dents (he’s not getting his deposit back) and spare parts litter the floor. The highlight of his day is when the Dragon comes in for coffee.

Sokka discovered the  _ Jasmine Dragon _ after his dad was complaining about the new tea shop on the corner stealing all of their customers. Sokka had decided to check it out for himself, instead of hating it on principle. The outside of the shop had a dragon curled around the name and traditional red pillars with gold accents. A soft bell rang as he pushed open the door, stepping into the most inviting place he’d ever been in. All sorts of mismatched furniture that somehow matched the theme took up residence in various places, creating warm and friendly sitting arrangements. The whole shop was lit with the pleasant golden glow of several lanterns hanging from the ceiling. And behind the counter was probably the most gorgeous man Sokka had ever laid his eyes upon. His long black hair was pulled out of his face and into a very sexy ponytail, while a couple strands escaped and framed his face very nicely. Speaking of his face, the man had a large burn scar that spanned his left eye and appeared to continue down his neck and arm; however, this only made him more beautiful to Sokka. Gracefully, he poured tea from an actual tea pot into two white mugs.

Sokka, with all of the confidence of an engineer but none of the brains to show for it, walked right up to the counter and introduced himself. Or, at least, he tried.

“Hello, lovely. I work at the coffee shop down the street, the  _ Ahkult _ , and I’d heard someone opened up a tea shop. Decided to check it out myself, you know, scope out the competition.” A truly captivating blush had spread across the man’s cheeks the moment Sokka opened his mouth, and it continued to deepen as Sokka spoke.

“Uh, um, hi? Welcome to the  _ Jasmine Dragon _ . I hope you- wait did you say coffee?” The guy interrupted himself. Sokka nodded dumbly. The guy's voice was raspy but not unpleasant. It certainly did something to Sokka’s already not functioning brain. “Oh thank the spirits. Uncle is adamantly against the stuff, so I was afraid I would be going without when we moved here. What time do you guys open?” Sokka stared at him for a second, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, before he remembered how to speak.

“I open the shop. How early do you need?” The man looked incredibly relieved.

“My shift starts at 10, so any time before 9:30.” Sokka found himself nodding again.

“Yeah, we usually open around 0600 or 0700, depending on the day.” Sokka realized he had used the 24-hour time (his dad was a marine and Sokka suffered for it. He has to train with him every other morning, hence the 0700 opening time. At least he’s in wicked good shape) but it was okay because the guy grinned.

“Alright!” He exclaimed, way too cheerfully to be talking about coffee. “See you at 8!” Sokka blinked, dumbfounded, before nodding (because he was verbally challenged at the moment) once more and walking out of the shop.

It wasn't until Sokka had walked all the way home that he realized he never offered his name.

And it wasn't until Sokka was laying in bed, still thinking about the guy, that he realized he never got a name, either.

True to his word, the guy showed up the next morning promptly at 0800. Sokka continued to be baffled by him as he placed his order.

“Can I get a medium mocha with three shots of espresso, light milk, no whipped cream, and cinnamon and ginger mixed in?” Sokka blinked, then swallowed, then looked at his register (a fancy touch screen because Hakoda wanted to “get with the times”) and asked the guy to repeat himself. He must have realized how bizarre his order was because he laughed and said it again, much slower this time. Sokka punched it into the machine and told him his total. The guy paid in cash, and when Sokka asked for his name, simply said, “the Dragon.” Sokka just raised his eyebrows as he turned away.

“Your order is coming right up.” Since there was no one else in the shop (most of his customers were the people who worked in the other buildings and they all opened much later than he did), Sokka got right on the drink. The guy looked around for a moment before picking a seat close to one of the windows and turned to watch Sokka work. Sokka glanced up and met the guy’s eyes for one second, but he quickly turned around as he felt a flush rise in his cheeks. The drink was fairly easy and it went by fast. Sokka felt like he had barely just taken the man’s order when he was calling out for “the Dragon”.

The guy stood up and walked over to the counter where his drink was resting. He took one sip, and Sokka thought he was satisfied with it, but then he took out a container of  _ ground cayenne pepper _ (what in Tui’s name?) and sprinkled it  _ into _ his  _ drink. _ Sokka watched as the man smiled and chugged the drink in one gulp.  _ One. Gulp _ . Sokka stood there, frozen in horror, and the man simply dropped his empty cup in the trash, said his thanks, and left the establishment. Sokka was reeling from that encounter for the rest of the day, and when Hakoda asked what was wrong, Sokka could only gape at him and whisper, “ _ Cayenne _ ”.

This became a regular occurrence.

In return, Sokka started going to the tea shop every day after his shift ended, usually sometime in the early afternoon. He would order whatever the blend of the day was, pay in cash (that was pretty smart, thank you Dragon), and wait. Instead of his real name, Sokka decided to be clever and told the Dragon he was the Warrior. The guy smirked, and Sokka was glad for his dark complexion when he felt heat rise to his cheeks. The tea shop was actually really good, and Sokka thanked both Tui and La every day for bringing it to him.

With these interactions, Sokka fell into a routine. Every morning at 0800 sharp, the Dragon would enter the coffee shop and order his monstrosity of a mocha. Sokka would make it, serve it, and the guy would down it on the spot. Then Sokka went through the rest of his shift before handing it off to Hakoda and Bato. Since his apartment was right above the shop, he walked up there first (so as to not raise any suspicion) and snuck out of the back door. He walked to the tea shop, ordered the blend of the day (or whatever new blend the Dragon or the old guy was working on), and sipped it at the tea shop. Usually, he would bring the schematics of whatever he was building with him so that he could get some work done while enjoying the tea. He’d solved so many of his issues in the tea shop that he started to believe there was some sort of creativity- or problem-solving-inducing drug in the air. 

It has now been months since that first encounter, and Sokka still doesn't know the Dragon’s real name. They barely exchange more than a few words, but Sokka knows this about him: he likes things sweet and spicy, he has a soft spot for chocolate, he thinks tea is just hot leaf juice (but isn't coffee just hot bean juice?), and he does not like mornings. No, Sokka doesn’t know things like his age or where he’s from, but those aren't really important in the grand scheme of things. But they connected over their dislike of the drinks they serve, and that’s all that matters to Sokka.

That’s probably why it hurts so much when the Dragon stops coming. Sokka goes to the tea shop still, hoping to see him, but it’s just Uncle there behind the counter. Sokka met Uncle the second day he went to the tea shop.

“I’m Iroh,” he said, “but you can call me Uncle. I see you have already met my nephew!” He says with much enthusiasm. That seemed to be Uncle’s natural state: always excited about the day. He only ever called the Dragon “nephew”, so Sokka didn’t get a chance to learn his name that way, either.

Sokka is confused and upset, but he doesn't stop going to the  _ Jasmine Dragon _ , because the tea is good, and if he can't get the real thing, the place where the Dragon worked is close enough. 

Apparently, though, Sokka is getting lax in his grief, because one minute he’s walking to the  _ Jasmine Dragon _ , and the next, Katara is jumping out from behind him, yelling, “I knew it!”

Sokka, mortified at getting caught, just stands there, not knowing what to do. He’s a little worried that Katara will tell their dad and Sokka will have to deal with Hakoda’s looks of Disappointment until he can earn back his favor.

Katara just laughs at him. She doubles over, holding her stomach. Sokka can see Uncle in the background hiding a grin, though he’s doing a terrible job at it. Sokka turns his gaze back to Katara and sees she’s calmed herself down slightly.

“What did you know?” Sokka asks nervously. This nearly sends Katara back into fits of laughter, but she contains herself at a few small giggles.

“Aang and I had a bet to see how long it would take for you to start going to this tea shop. I told him by the end of the year, thanks by the way, and he bet that it would take more than just a year. He had strong faith in your resolve. I win though, because you couldn’t even last six months.” Katara grins proudly, and Sokka doesn't know whether to be relieved or ashamed that he’s so transparent. He settles on somewhere in between.

“So, uh, you’re not gonna tell Dad?” Sokka asks. He has to be sure. He’ll need to prepare himself so that he doesn’t feel like a complete and utter failure the next time he sees Hakoda. Being an utter failure is hard enough.

Katara smiles, though. She shakes her head. “No,” she says, “I won't do that to you. I see how much you hate coffee.” Sokka returns her smile and wraps his arms around her in a tight bear hug.

“Thank you, my not-so-annoying little sister.” Katara squirms a bit, but ultimately gives into the hug.

Sokka has his back turned to the door, so when the bell rings, he doesn't see who it is. He doesn't care much, until Uncle says, “Nephew!” Sokka whips around at neck-breaking speed to see the Dragon standing in the doorway, looking like an angel, with the light from outside flooding in around him.

Before he can stop himself, Sokka is running forward and giving the man a hug.

“I was just so worried when you disappeared! I had no idea what happened to you, and Uncle said you were fine when I asked so I just left it at that, but then I realized I miss you coming in every day and I actually want to get to know you!” Sokka squeezed the Dragon extra hard, then let go and stood back, looking into his face. Sokka can tell that the Dragon is slightly overwhelmed, but he doesn't look uncomfortable, so Sokka takes that as a win. He decides in that moment that he would finally properly introduce himself. He removes his hand from the Dragon’s hip (and is he imagining the way the Dragon looks sad at the loss of touch?) and sticks it out in front of him for a handshake. “Hi,” he greets. “My name is Sokka. I work at the  _ Ahkult _ . I would like to be your friend.” The Dragon stares down at his outstretched hand for a moment before grasping it slowly and giving it a firm shake.

“My name is Zuko,” he says in the raspy voice that Sokka has come to love. “I work at the  _ Jasmine Dragon _ , and I would also like to be your friend.” Sokka grins.

“So it’s settled then! We’ll be each other's friend.” Sokka pulled Zuko into another hug. “And since we’re officially friends, I would like to know where you were these past few weeks.” Zuko looks away, and something akin to sadness darkens his face. Sokka backtracks. “You don’t actually have to tell me. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“No, no,” Zuko says, shaking his head. “I think I want to tell you.” With that, he takes Sokka’s hand and leads him towards the back. Sokka meets Katara’s eyes and shifts them to the door in an obvious request for her to leave. Well, obvious to Sokka, at least. Katara must not understand him, because she lifts an eyebrow and turns to Uncle, striking up a conversation. Uncle looks all too happy to indulge her. Sokka rolls his eyes and follows Zuko through the back door and upstairs into the loft above the tea shop. (Ha! Even Zuko lives above the tea shop!). He leads Sokka to the couch and sits down in the arm chair across from him.

“If I’m going to tell you this,” he says, “I might as well start from the beginning.” Zuko inhales deeply, steeling himself. “When I was ten, my mother poisoned my grandfather and left before anyone knew what happened. She left me and my sister in the sole care of our father. My sister was a child prodigy: extremely intelligent and naturally talented. I, on the other hand, had to struggle for every good grade, every skill or hobby I picked up. The one thing I did better than my sister was sword fight, but my father did not care for that, because sword fighting wasn’t going to help me run the business once he died. He essentially ignored me and focused on my sister, up until my mother left. Then, he started getting physical. He would flick the ends of his cigarette butts at me if sales had decreased that week; a fist to anywhere on me that wouldn’t show if a meeting went poorly. 

“Then, one day when I was thirteen, he and Azula, my sister, went out and left me alone. This wasn’t out of the ordinary, but this time, he purposely leaked gas into the house, I never found out what kind, and left the stove on.” Sokka sucks in a breath, already able to tell where this is going. “It caused an explosion. Luckily, I wasn’t in my room, which was right above the kitchen, but in the backyard, practicing with my swords. I still felt the explosion, but I would have been fine. That is, if I hadn’t ran back inside to save my cat, Druk.” Said cat, as if summoned, appeared from one of the rooms. He was an adorable orange Bengal, though he was missing patches of fur towards the end of his tail. “He was in my room, so I grabbed him and my phone and ran out. I’m so glad that he wasn’t hurt too badly, aside from some burns on the tip of his tail, though I have no idea how, since he must have been in my room at the time. I shielded him with my body, but I was essentially running straight through flames to get out, so that’s why my left side is scarred like it is.” Zuko closes his eyes, placing a hand to the edge of his scar. “I didn’t feel it until the shock wore off in the hospital. Hurt like a bitch, I’ll tell you that. I was there for two months recovering, and Ozai never visited me even once. Uncle was there every day, though, helping me get through it. Azula showed up once, towards the beginning. I could tell she was scared, even though she was hiding it well. She might have been Father’s favorite, but she will always be my little sister. I love her so much, and I don’t think I would have handled it as well if she had been in the house too.” Zuko has a sad smile on his face. Sokka wonders what happened to this Azula. He wonders if it’s the same one that’s friends with Ty Lee. That would be pretty neat.

Zuko continues, “The authorities showed up, but they ruled the explosion accidental, and Ozai got away with attempted murder. I was able to move out at sixteen, though Ozai didn’t remove me from his succession. I think he wanted a spare, just in case Azula burned out too quickly. Which she did, actually. She had a meltdown about six months after I went to live with Uncle. Burned down my room at the new house, trashed the place. She didn’t hurt anybody except herself, so they just threw her into a mental institution. I forced Ozai to transfer her to one of much higher quality. She was there for four years. I visited every Friday. Back then, I had worked with Uncle, not for him, at some little tea shop. I can’t even remember the name.

“Fast forward a couple years, Azula gets out and is now eighteen and on her own. Uncle was able to get her to come live with us, where she readjusted to normal life. Once she was ready, we sent her to college. She graduated with a master’s in political science two years ago while she minored in pre-law, and now she’s working towards being a politician. I’m pretty sure she’s gunning for president, but she’s been so busy lately, we haven’t had much time to talk.” Sokka nods his head in understanding; he hasn’t had much time to talk to Suki, though he’s now sure that the Azulas are one and the same.

“Out of the blue, a couple weeks ago, I get a call saying Ozai has been sentenced to twenty five years for corporate fraud of all things, not the years of child abuse, and I am now the owner of the company because Azula turned it down.” Sokka’s mind reels as he processes all of the information he just got at once. He decides to start with an easy question.

“What company is it?” Or so he thinks, because Zuko drops another curveball on him.

“Oh, you know, just Fire Nation Industries.” Sokka feels his mouth drop.

“You. Now. Own. Fire. Nation. Industries?” Sokka asked incredulously. “Only the most prestigious company in the world? I have been dreaming of working as an engineer there for years!” Zuko looks surprised but like he’s got a plan.

“So you’re an engineer, I take it?” Sokka nods apprehensively. “Cool. How would you like to be head of R&D? Mine just got fired because apparently he was working with Ozai to deal weapons to terrorists, under the table.” Sokka faints.

  
  
  


When he wakes up again, he’s lying across the couch with his head in Zuko’s lap while Zuko’s hands nervously play with his hair.

“Are you alright?” Zuko asks when he notices Sokka is awake. Sokka nods and moves to get up. Zuko presses a hand to his shoulder. “You should probably lay down for a second. I don’t think people are supposed to faint.”

“I definitely did not faint,” says the person who definitely fainted. Zuko raises an eyebrow (he only has one?) and Sokka returns it with a stare. “So did I hear you right? You want me to be the head of Research and Development for Fire Nation Industries?”

“Uh, yeah. I don’t know how many team members were also involved, and I probably won’t ever know because there is no way they caught them all. But yeah, you can work for me, I guess. If it’s any consolation, the pay is pretty good and the hours are decent.”

“‘I guess’, he says. As if he is not the owner of a multimillion-dollar company.” Sokka laughs at himself, and he hears Zuko snort. “Yeah, I guess. My dad will be just positively heart broken, but I’m sure he’ll get over it once I show him the paycheck.” Zuko really laughs at that. Sokka’s slightly disappointed; it wasn’t even one of his best jokes.

“Do you really only care for money?” Zuko asks. “How shallow of you, tea-drinker.”

“Oh yeah? You put cayenne pepper. In your mocha. Sweet and spicy to the extreme. Also, who was the one who used a dumb alias first?”

“You try my experimental blends.” Zuko doesn’t explain. He doesn’t need to. “Also,” he croons, “who copied my idea of using a dumb alias?”

“Hey now!” Sokka responds. “‘The Warrior’ is much better than ‘The Dragon’.” Zuko’s lips press into a flat line that mocks Sokka.

“Is it though?” Sokka let’s put an indignant huff. Zuko laughs at him.

“Fine then. I’ll accept your job offer-“ Zuko looks elated and Sokka doesn’t want to acknowledge what that does to him- “only if you see what I can do first. For all you know, I could be the shittiest engineer in the world. I don’t want a job that I’m not qualified for.” Zuko looks a tad sheepish.

“You’re probably right. I need, like, an advisor. Maybe you should be my advisor.” Sokka stares at Zuko as the man offers him another position without thinking.

“I must really have a type,” he says out loud, knowing full well Zuko would not understand what he means. True to his prediction, Zuko just raises an eyebrow and continues.

“So when can I check you out?” Sokka chokes on air. Somehow, he thinks the phrase,  _ like calls to like _ , but he doesn’t pay attention to it or it’s meaning. Zuko looks concerned. “Did I say something wrong?” Sokka shakes his head.

“No,” he wheezes out. “We can go now if that’s cool.” Zuko shrugs.

“Uncle said I wasn’t allowed to come back to work until I was ready, so sure. I don’t have anything else to do this afternoon.” Sokka takes that as a yes and jumps off the couch, leading Zuko out of the loft. He isn't sure why he’s so excited, only that he is.

He takes Zuko out of the shop with a quick goodbye to Uncle, then down the street towards the  _ Ahkult _ . He brings them around to the back door, finger to his lips in a silent gesture. Slowly, Sokka opens the door, peering inside. The coast is clear, so he opens the door the rest of the way (still slowly—he doesn’t want it to creak) and pulls Zuko in, ushering him up the stairs to his apartment. Sokka can hear people in the shop, which he thinks is weird but relatively normal for this time. Some people just need that afternoon pick-me-up, even though Sokka has never understood the urge.

They make it to the apartment safe and sound (and unnoticed). Sokka notices Zuko scanning his apartment: his dirty walls, messy floors, parts strewn everywhere. Sokka knows he should feel embarrassed, but he’s too nervous to feel anything else. Zuko cocks his head in a clear,  _ Shall we? _ Sokka indulges his request.

“Alright. This is still a work in progress, but when I’m done, it should be a fully-functioning, self-sustaining water cleaner. It takes bad water, infected or polluted or otherwise, and filters it into drinking water. It should be pretty low maintenance and easy to size up.” The one sitting on his table would only be able to fit about three gallons of dirty water, but he could easily make it fit up to 200 gallons, give or take. Zuko certainly looks impressed.

“What about this one?” Zuko’s pointing to a net-like device sitting on the countertop. Sokka cringes.

“I was trying to find a way to make getting oil out of the ocean more efficient, because it’s pretty difficult. The idea behind it was to make sort of a really fine net that would theoretically allow water to pass through while trapping the oil. So far, I haven’t been able to work it out.” Zuko nods thoughtfully.

“Are all of your projects water-based?” He asks.

“No,” Sokka says. “This one over here-“ he points to what looks like a pile of parts vaguely assembled into a shape on his couch- “is a flying aircraft that runs on stored potential energy and compressed air. The air flows in through this hole, gets trapped in this space, then is compressed and shot through this part and fills these propellers, allowing the aircraft to fly. It could also be used in the water with the same idea, just instead of compressed air, water is shot out in a concentrated jet to move the propellers.” Zuko, Sokka can tell, understands absolutely none of what he just said, but that’s okay because this model works. And Sokka’s going to give him a demonstration. 

He puts the aircraft on the ground and flips a switch, then pushes it down the only clean path on his floor. It starts humming as air is collected, then just before it runs into the wall, it lifts straight off the floor into a hover. Sokka walks over and grabs it out of the air, turning it back off. He looks up and sees Zuko’s jaw almost on the floor.

“Holy shit. That’s so cool. You’re definitely hired.” Sokka laughs and slings an arm over Zuko’s shoulders.

“Glad I was able to meet whatever expectations you had.” Zuko blushes.

“Honestly, I probably would have still given you the job if you showed me just a failed project.” Sokka shakes his head.

“Good to know you have high standards.” Zuko shoves Sokka off of him with a light push. Sokka is laughing, loud and lively, and he knows he’s disturbing the old lady across the hall (she must have bat ears or something) but Sokka doesn’t care. He is finding he quite enjoys Zuko’s company. “Do you want to do something else? Otherwise, we can just chill here and order in.”

“Here’s fine,” Zuko says. Sokka gestures with his head to the uncluttered part of the couch in an invitation to sit down and flops down beside Zuko. He pulls out his phone and orders a large cheese pizza from the local pizza parlor. Sokka knows the owner, so even though they don’t normally deliver, they will for him.

“We should exchange numbers,” Sokka says. “Because that’s a thing friends do.”

Zuko shrugs. “Yeah, why not.” They trade phones and Sokka types his number into Zuko’s sleek cell phone. He types in his name as ‘The Warrior’, and when he gets his phone back, he sees Zuko has put ‘The Dragon’. Sokka smiles and leans into Zuko.

Since Sokka does not have a TV, they watch YouTube videos from Zuko’s phone until there is a knock on the door. Sokka jumps up and grabs his wallet, then opens the door. Lee, his favorite server, is standing there with a pizza box, grinning. Sokka returns the look and trades the money for the pizza, then nods at Lee and closes the door. He grabs some napkins and walks back over to where Zuko is still seated on the couch. He pulls the coffee table closer and sets the pizza down. Sokka pulls Zuko to the floor with him. They both sit cross legged and lean their backs against the couch. Sokka flips open the box, grabbing a slice and a napkin. He sees Zuko do the same. It occurs to Sokka that Zuko is beautiful. Absolutely stunning. He’d forgotten over the past months as he’d gotten used to Zuko showing up everyday, but the way the golden afternoon sun makes Zuko glow in Sokka’s apartment is just breathtaking. Sokka’s hit with the urge to kiss him immediately. So he swallows his pizza and leans in slowly, giving Zuko time to back away if he’s uncomfortable. But the other man turns his head and meets Sokka’s lips himself. Sokka closes his eyes and continues to kiss Zuko. Zuko pulls back and Sokka looks at him.

“Wouldn’t this be inappropriate?” He asks. “You know, since I’m technically your boss?” Sokka stares at him.

“Don’t you own the company? You can make it okay for employees to date.” Zuko’s mouth just forms an ‘oh’ shape, so Sokka kisses it.

“Okay,” Zuko says, breaking off the kiss. “Are we really doing this?” Sokka rolls his eyes.

“No, this is a prank. Look, hidden camera over there.” Sokka points and Zuko actually turns his head to look, and that is actual fear on his face. Sokka feels bad. “Zuko- no. It’s a joke. I’m joking. This is real. Yes, I want to date you.” The relief on Zuko’s face makes Sokka want to go back and hurt Ozai and everyone else who had ever made Zuko feel inadequate. But for now, he’d settle for teaching Zuko to feel like he deserves everything he wants. Starting with Sokka.

It’ll be a long road and a lot of time and effort, but that’s fine, because Sokka knows he’s in it for the long run, and he’s got nothing but time on his hands and plenty of effort to give.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave kudos and a comment if you enjoyed my story. I had a lot of world building going on, so if you want me to write more, I probably can.


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